summer dress 1

Hello! Summer heat and summer dressing are on my mind.  These photos were taken a few weeks ago when we went to an outdoor party and I wore this dress, hat and sandals.  I have so many thoughts about wardrobe and dressing these days--well, always!  I think these photos are not so flattering and I probably could have chosen lighter colored sandals and I also think the hat looked cuter/more appropriate at the outdoor party than in these photos.  I also think "flatteringness" is not necessarily the ultimate goal.  Maybe the feeling of a garment or the emotion it evokes is just as or more important.

This dress reminds me of retro summery times--70's childhoods and also somehow grandmothers in "house coats" or house dresses.  The fabric is a madras plaid and it has a built-in slip/lining.  I'm hoping I get a lot of wear out of it.  The summers get very hot here.

I'm hoping to have more outfit posts soon, but we are running out of places in our yard for photographing them.  We are having some construction done, so the yard is a mess.  But do look for more posts upcoming.  And I also hope to post more about beauty and skincare as well.  I feel like in these troubling times (we are living in scary times right now, yes?) that the topics of fashion, skincare, and beauty are so so comforting to me--like a smooth worry stone, as I go through lists of capsule wardrobe ideas or beauty rituals in my mind.

One more thing--if you like seeing these outfits, I'm also snapchatting my outfits on a somewhat daily basis over on my snapchat--@faeriemb--along with dinner ideas and podcast recommendations and thoughts and stuff.

Outfit details:
dress--Bridge and Burn
sandals--old, Zappos (Franco Sarto I think)
hat--purchased online--Wallaroo hat company

saturday walk downtown

Hello!  I wore this outfit when the boys and I walked downtown last Sunday.  It was still chilly last weekend (thus the light jacket) but next weekend it is supposed to be 99!!  So I guess we should have enjoyed the cooler weather while it lasted (secretly I don't like the overcast "May gray" weather we get every year).

After our little excursion downtown we stopped at the gas station and bought M&Ms and when we got home we mixed them with popcorn and watched Despicable Me.  Very fun mom and sons time.

jeans:  high-waisted Levis via Zappos (style 721)
top:  white tee from the Gap
jacket:  old, from the Gap
sandals:  random white Bass sandals from Zappos (last year; now I can't find Bass on Zappos anymore :(
bag: Madewell

tank dress

 I wore this dress on Easter. It feels like such a long time ago now!  It was also much warmer then (in March!) than it has been lately.  We always get the "May gray" weather in this area, so winter tends to be warmer than spring.  Go figure.  Anyway, I bought this dress at Loft in medium and then altered the side seams so the armholes wouldn't gape.  I think this is going to be a great dress for summer, once the weather warms up.  I've really worn it only once so far, but the hot season is coming and then I will love it.

Sorry for the poor picture quality--I'm trying to get back into blogging and I just had Dieter take these pictures on my phone in random lighting.  I'll try to get slightly better photos next time.

dress :: Loft
shoes :: random brand from Zappos--Franco Sarto?
necklace :: Loft

What are you looking forward to wearing in summer?  I'm crazy about tank dresses in a midi length.

pants for summer

Sorry it has been so long since my last post.  I was shocked to see my previous post had a leather jacket.  It's been a long time since I wore that!  We are in pure summer mode now.  I've been trying to wear more non-shorts outfits for summer this year.  Dresses definitely are best for hot summer, but today the weather was cooler and allowed for a pants outfit.  I'm finding more and more that I prefer simple outfits and a simple palette of white, black, khaki, navy and blush overall.  Hopefully I'm honing in on my true style!  I'd love to post here more as I explore this.  I'm endlessly fascinated by the topic.

Outfit details:
pants:  Emmerson Fry Mick 3 pant
sweatery top:  Athleta
sandals:  Clarks
bracelet:  purchased in Brooklyn at a little "open studio" event with craftspeople and artists--unfortunately I didn't think to pick up her card, but I love this piece.
bag--purchased at the same event in Brooklyn.  The inner loop is stamped "Handmade by Cold Picnic"

I hope your summer is going well!  I'm off to Pasadena tomorrow with my BFF.

flared!

These pants are 4 years old and maybe it's about time to retire them, but I do love a high waisted flare jean from time to time. I might just have to update them. (with these maybe?)  Do you wear high waisted?  Flares?

Outfit details:
high waisted jeans:  J. Brand (old)
top:  Loft
leather jacket:  LL Bean Signature
shoes:  Clarks (very very old)

highs in the 60's

It's always super exciting when we have a stretch of cool days--so many more wardrobe options and the opportunity for jackets (and, let's be real here--sleeves!).    I love this outfit for its shoes, its patterned belt, its dark wash skinnies, its classic white button-up, and of course for its chic trench.  Well, I guess that's all of it!  No wonder I'm such a fan.

In other news, I've lost a few pounds and already my pants are fitting better and I'm feeling better.

Outfit details:
jeans:  Gap Always Skinny
belt:  J. Crew
shirt:  Everlane
trench:  Forever 21
shoes:  Gentle Souls via Garnet Hill
thin bracelets:  Moulton (and rings, not pictured)

stripes and pants

Just a quick post tonight to show you my new work pants!  I had become distressed at the number of times per week I was wearing jeans to work, and I wanted to dress things up a bit.  So I picked these up at the Gap on my trip.  However, now that I look at these photos the pants look suspiciously like these old Talbot's pants!  (I don't have them any more.  I was hoping these were a little slimmer in the cut, but I see now that they are not really.  Oh well!  It's nice to mix things up a bit.)

Outfit details:
pants:  Gap "perfect trousers"
striped top:  Forever 21
leather jacket:  LL Bean Signature
shoes:  Clarks